in his conjecture that Bax had cut the rope. On nearing
the ship the latter had come unexpectedly on a large rock, under the lee
of which he paused to recover breath before making the last gallant
struggle towards the wreck. It was this pause that caused the alarm of
those on shore. When Bax felt himself dragged violently back to the
land, he at once divined the cause, and, knowing that there was no other
resource, he seized the clasp-knife, and cut the rope. A few minutes
later he swam under the lee of the wreck, and, catching hold of the
rigging of the foremast, which had gone by the board when the ship
struck, he clambered up the side and soon stood on the quarter-deck.

The hope raised among the passengers by the sudden appearance of the
gigantic stranger in the midst of them, was quickly dispelled when he
told them how he had failed in the main object of his effort. But it
revived somewhat when they observed the active and energetic way in
which Bax set about preparations for returning to the shore with a line
from the ship. His first act was to ask for a blue-light, which after a
few minutes was produced. This he set fire to, and, springing into the
main rigging, held it aloft, and sent a bright glare for a few minutes,
far and wide, over the scene.

The effect of this was twofold. It revealed to the shipwrecked people
the dangers by which they were surrounded, and the active efforts that
were being made by land and water for their deliverance. On shore, they
saw crowds of men and women surrounding an instrument, which Bax, after
giving vent to a hopeful cheer, explained was a rocket apparatus.
Scarcely had they learned this, when Bax shouted and waved his hand
seaward. On turning their eyes in that direction, they beheld a
lifeboat bearing down towards them, her white-painted sides gleaming
like the wings of an angel of light in the midst of the dark tempest.

The lifeboat was also seen by the people on shore, and Guy, who at once
recognised the figure, and the _vigour_, of his friend with the
blue-light, lent able assistance to those who managed the rocket.

Dennett's Rocket Apparatus, which was being placed in position on the
rocks, is an invention by which many human lives are saved on our coasts
every year. Like Manby's Mortar Apparatus, it is simple in its action
and most effective in operation.

The grand difficulty in the case of a wreck near shore is to establish a
communication, by means o